2nd Orange Test: Australia v New Zealand at Hobart, 22-26 Nov 2001 John Polack |
New Zealand 1st innings:
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By the time that play was halted on account of rain 86 minutes into the new day, the Black Caps had receded to a score of 7/243 in their first innings in response to the somewhat distant memory represented by Australia's score of 8/558.
In such action as was possible, it was another good morning session for the home team with Jason Gillespie (3/45) and Glenn McGrath (2/46) in outstanding form as they set about removing arguably their rivals' three finest batsmen.
Stephen Fleming (71) fell to the very first delivery of the day, the victim of an interminably delayed lbw decision as he padded up to McGrath. He misjudged the line as McGrath came around the wicket to cut one back in from outside the line of off stump. Stopwatches conservatively put the length of the time needed by umpire Steve Bucknor to form his decision at around seven seconds. Fleming's walk to the gate, after another innings in which he failed to turn a half-century into a century, rivalled it for speed.
Craig McMillan (55) was similarly content to continue leaving most deliveries bowled to him as well. Unlike his captain, though, the practice didn't land him in trouble until much later in the morning. His error came after a patient 209-minute stay during which he had generally shown excellent knowledge of where his off stump was; fatally, he had not counted on the prospect of Gillespie cutting a ball significantly back in off the seam to take a mixture of off and middle.
Chris Cairns (20) played a restless innings, slamming his first delivery imperiously through the covers and then serially attempting to increase his score with a mixture of aggressively-executed vertical and horizontal bat strokes. It was a spectacular exhibition that came to be ended by an equally spectacular catch when Adam Gilchrist launched himself horizontally to his right to intercept a thick outside edge at McGrath.
The position might have been even worse for the tourists if umpire John Smeaton had upheld a confident appeal for a gloved catch down the leg side as Adam Parore (10*) fended off the line of hip at Gillespie before he had scored. But that was denied; the Australians were unable to shift Daniel Vettori (10*) either; and then the heavens unleashed their fury upon the second-driest capital city in Australia to honour the rain dance that could well have been going on in the New Zealand dressing rooms.
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Date-stamped : 26 Nov2001 - 10:39